


The Four Legends

by Creepycupcakes



Category: Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders, youtube - Fandom
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-05-03 07:23:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 13,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14563956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Creepycupcakes/pseuds/Creepycupcakes
Summary: There are four legendary men from long long ago who are responsible for the world we now live in today.  Each one from a different way of life, A prince who could no longer bare to live under his fathers reign, a humble farmer who simply wanted to make the world a better place, a mage who had wanted vengeance, and a dragon rider, who simply thought the king was an asshole. Together they stepped up to a challenge they knew they probably wouldn't win, and together, they beat the odds.





	1. Prologue

“Hey papa? Can you tell me a story?”

“Of course my son,” Cecil responded smiling fondly down at his child. “What one would you like me to tell?” He watched as the boy thought, tapping his finger against his lips. “Oh! Can you tell me about the one with the rebellion again?” he questioned with a wide smile, a happy glint in his green eyes. “That one? But I must have told you it a million times by now, Morgan.”

“Yeah but it’s so awesome! It’s full of magic and fighting and dragons!” The young boy seemed to be jumping up and down in place, insanely excited at the idea of being told the wondrous tale of the fight for freedom. The story was most definitely one of his favorites! Of course, all of his father’s stories were definitely the best! Even if he was pretty sure that most of them were fake, they were still really cool to listen to!

“Very well then, if that’s what you want I’ll gladly tell it to you again. After all, you do know I enjoy telling you my stories.” The tan man moved to stand from the kitchen table, grabbing his cane and slowly moving over to an old rocking chair that sat in the corner of the room. Cecil ran a hand through his hair as he watched Morgan moved to sit on the plush green carpet a gleam of excitement in his eyes. “Can you tell me now papa? Can you!?”

“Ah…It looks like it was going to storm.” He commented, lazily looking out the window. He loved to mess around with his kid like this. It was fun! “Pappppaaa! Please don’t pull this again! You do this every time!” Mark whined, peering up at his father. “Alright, alright.” He chuckled, raising his hands in the air in defeat. He pressed his foot against the ground in order to get the chair moving before he started to speak again. “If you want to hear the story so badly I guess I can tell you right now.” As he spoke he could hear the rumble of the thunder rumble in the distance.

 

A long time ago, before the magic realm and our own were forever separated, there was a beautiful land, it was vast and beautiful. Filled with all sorts of creatures and magic. It was like something from a fairy tale…However, the king who ruled it, was far from kind. He was a tyrant king, who ruled the land with an iron fist who only cared about himself and no one else. Luckily, there was a prophecy, four men, each of different upbringings, would bring the corrupt king to his knees. The kings own son, a mage, a measly farmer, and a powerful dragon rider, despite their differences, were all destined to save the world..”


	2. The Journey Begins

“A long time ago, before the magic realm and our own were forever separated, there was a land, it was vast and beautiful. Filled with all sorts of creatures and magic. It was like something from a fairytale. However, the king who ruled it was far from kind. He was a tyrant king, who ruled the land with an iron fist. Who only cared about himself and no one else. Luckily, there was a prophecy. Four men, each of different upbringings would bring the corrupt king to his knees. The kings own son, a mage, a measly farmer and a powerful dragon rider, despite their differences were all destined to save the world.”  
Roman had always been sheltered from the realities from the world, that was thanks to his father, King Frederick. However, when he turned twenty two he started to sneak out of the palace, using various hiding places so that the guards wouldn’t find him. It was actually surprisingly easy. But when he got out of the palace, he saw the state that the kingdom was truly in. Poverty wrecked the land, thieves ran wild, some of the houses were practically destroyed since the people could no longer afford to try to keep them in order. That was the day that Roman’s world was turned upside down. But he didn’t do anything about it. Not yet. After all, when you were the king’s son, you saw how much power he truly had, how much power it would take to stop him…  
It took him six more years to finally build up the courage to try to run away. Though he wasn’t doing it without a plan. After all, if he needed to try to fix the kingdom, the first major thing he would have to do was get the people on his side, and try to get a team, a resistance together, to help him. Then, they would be able to take down the king, and all of the nobility who stood by King Fredericks side. It took a few days to get everything together. He was only bringing the necessities but still. He knew he needed his sword, some fruits and dried meat, and his horse. But he also brought his map and some other items as well. But he was sure to keep it light. The day eventually came, and even before the sun was close to rising, he changed into his more civilian-like clothing and grabbed his bag and sword before he snuck out to the stables, grabbing his horse and wasting no time as he climbed onto it, riding out of the castle grounds and into the night.  
He really had no idea how he was going to do this, how he would find people to fight alongside him…But he did know that he had to try. He had to help his people. He rode until he was away from the main city, and into the forests surrounding it. He knew he should be focused on the task at hand, but he couldn’t help but grin. As a prince there was countless rules he had to follow, the classes were tedious, and the meetings even worse. They always used to weigh him down so much…for the first time since he was a child, he felt free. He let himself ride on until he was nearing the next village, hopping off his horse and tying her up to a tree, finding a spot with soft grass to sleep through the night. He sighed softly, looking up at the peaceful night sky. Yes, he had no idea how to do this, but somehow, he was still confident, that in the end, the tyrant king that he called father would fall. He kept a hand on his blade as he drifted off, just in case something happened while he slept.  
The next day he was woken up by a powerful roar. He jumped to his feet, pulling his sword out of its sheath. He hardly had enough time to dodge the attack. Before him stood a large, fearsome beast that he had only heard about in stories before. Before him was a large dragon. Whose black scales glittered in the sun, and its violet eyes seemed to pierce into Roman’s soul. He must have accidentally wandered into its territory or something. He gasped in surprise as the creature lurched forward, snapping its jaws. He managed to dodge most of it, but still felt the sting of the fresh wound. He couldn’t just play offense here, that would get him killed. So he took a breath before he dodged yet another attack, darting towards the beast and managing just hardly to get a scratch on it. “Damn.” he muttered, he had been going through training for years, but he doubted any of that could have prepared him for this.  
The fight continued on for what felt like an eternity, and Roman still hardly managed to get any more wounds on the dragon. For a little bit, he was sure that he was going to die here. That he would have failed this quest. But then he had an idea. It was risky though, and it could get him killed. But hey, it’s not like he stood a chance against it if he continued on like this. So he waited until the mighty beast attempted to attack again before he allowed himself to trip up, to fall flat onto his back. He only watched as the beast came closer,and moved to try to pin him to the ground. The prince waited for the exact moment it was above him before he swiftly moved his sword and thrusted upward into the belly of the beast.   
It let out a strangled cry, before it stumbled to the ground. Roman forced himself to stand before he pulled his sword from its stomach, sheathing it once again before he stumbled over to a tree to check his injuries. The dragon must have gotten more than a few blows on him, judging by the amount of blood staining his clothes. And now that his adrenaline was fading, he could feel the pain. He hissed as he managed to sit down, his back leaning against a tree as he unbuttoned his shirt to check his wounds. Fuck. That was a lot of blood…Suddenly Roman definitely wasn’t feeling too well. It didn’t take long for his vision to become spotty, and then, eventually, the world slipped into darkness.


	3. The Farmer

Roman was completely out of it for god knows how long. He was completely oblivious to everything around him. His father could have discovered him, or rather, one of his fathers soldiers (his father was too much of a coward to actually come out to look for him. He knew that much) And he wouldn’t care. The one and only thing that he was aware of was the pain. It was as if someone had decided to slice him open and pour acid into his blood. It hurt so much…he couldn’t take it. A part of him was begging that someone, anyone, would come along and put an end to this horrible misery.   
For a moment, it did get worse. It felt like someone was pressing down on the wounds on purpose. He wanted to cry out. To tell whoever was to just please stop, or at least to ask them if they had any mercy, to just put him out of his misery. The pain, eventually, started to fade. Thank the gods that it was stopping.,,But why? Was he dying? He stiffened up, but then he realized he could now hear a voice. It was gentle and kind, yet had a childish touch to it, Definitely not one of the guards, and it didn’t sound like he always thought the gods would. He was sure that meant that someone was helping him. He couldn’t make out what exactly they were saying…but there was something so soothing about their tone that he was able to relax.  
Eventually, however, the voice soon faded as he once again fell into a complete unconscious state, thankful that the pain had at least faded a little bit.  
He didn’t wake up until the next morning, eyes opening to see a wooden roof and immediately becoming confused. “…What..?” He muttered, automatically trying to sit up but only to be stopped by a sharp pain, causing himself to fall back onto the soft pillow beneath him. Where was he? Certainly he wasn’t at the castle. He would have recognized the cold yet ornate stone ceilings. “Oh! You’re awake!” A voice spoke, and then a man was at his side. Yeah, he was definitely safe. The man was definitely not anywhere near to being royalty. That was made clear by his light blue shirt and brown pants. There was hardly any detail whatsoever. He was probably a peasant or something. “Yes,” Roman spoke up when he found his voice again. “I’m awake…but where am I?”  
“Oh goodness, I really should have known you’d be curious. After all you did just wake up in a strange place! But thats okay! You’re at my farm, I know it’s not much and that its a bit messy..” Roman sat up as much as he could without hurting himself to look around. The house was very small, only two rooms and a loft. And it was a bit messy, but somehow it did feel rather home like as well. “It looks lovely…but why did you help me? Didn’t you think I could be dangerous? After all, I am a stranger…and there was a dead dragon next to me too,” Patton just seemed to listen to him, though a confused look came onto his face when Roman mentioned the dragon. “What? There wasn’t any dragon! There was some puddles of this weird violet stuff though..”

No dragon? Now that just really didn’t make sense. That dragon had been just as real as him! And it attacked him! He must have looked a mixture of confused and shocked as the strange man that had saved him spoke again. “Well I guess it is possible, considering the gashes and everything…and I did hear that dragons had really weird blood colors depending on their type…So I guess it might have been there! Maybe you just didn’t kill it then!”   
“Maybe…” The prince, or rather, ex-prince murmured softly. He knew there was absolutely no way he didn’t kill that beast, For god’s sake, his sword had almost went completely through it! But for once he kept quiet about it. He didn’t want to argue with him since it was clear that this stranger in front of him had saved his life. There really wasn’t a single doubt in Roman’s mind that he would have died without his help. Ah, that’s right. He hadn’t introduced himself, he didn’t even know his name. “Right….That reminds me, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s your name?” He asked him, doing his best to sit up just a bit more.  
“Oh right! I must have forgotten that, sorry! My names Patton! What’s yours?” For a moment Roman debated on trying to use a fake name to try to protect himself. But he knew that he would end up forgetting it at some point, and that Patton seemed very trustworthy. So he simply smiled slightly and offered his hand to Patton. “My names Roman.”


	4. Friend and Ally?

“Roman? Your name is Roman? As in Prince Roman!?” Patton asked, clearly in disbelief. Okay yeah, maybe Roman should have used a fake name anyways. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Yes..” he admitted, as the other immediately moved to bow. “I’m so sorry! I should not have acted so casually!” Roman simply watched as the other bowed before him, a frown on his face.  
“Patton, please don’t bow, or be sorry okay?” He requested, a tinge of worry to his tone. He didn’t want anyone to ever treat him like he was so much higher than them again. While he did want respect, he did not want respect out of fear. He wanted respect from admiration, for doing good deeds and helping the people. “I have renounced my title as prince of this land.”   
“…What? Why?” the farmer asked softly, standing up straight again even though his face had a look of disbelief. “It’s no secret that I’ve had a sheltered life, recently I have seen how my father has been treating his citizens…and I could not be a part of it any longer. I recognize that he would have died and I would have taken over, however, I don’t want to risk him harming this land anymore than he already has. So I decided to run. And…” His voice trailed off. He wasn’t sure if he could trust Patton with his plans.  
“And what?” Patton asked, “If you don’t want to tell me that’s okay!” he added the second part quickly, even though he clearly seemed to understand why Roman had done what he did, he still seemed to be on edge around him, as if he was afraid of upsetting Roman. “I can tell you…But you have to promise to keep it a secret alright?” Patton nodded, “Of course I will!”  
“Alright then, due to how my father has been treating his people. I have figured out that he is not fit to rule. And as such, I have plans to attempt to organize a..well, a rebellion. I can not stand for how he has been using his power. He has been using it for the sole purpose of making himself richer and to hurt those who disagree with him. He must be stopped.” Patton stared in disbelief as the other spoke, “A…a rebellion..?” Roman nodded, afraid that Patton would try to tell someone. He supposed he could kill him, but he knew that when it came down to it he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to. The two sat in the awkward silence before the unexpected happened.  
Patton grinned, “Really? Oh wow! I used to doubt that I would ever live to see a rebellion! I know I’m really just a farmer, and I don’t have much, but is there anything I could do that would help? I know it’s dangerous but still!” Okay yeah. Roman definitely didn’t expect that. “Wait..you actually want to help me?” He asked, eyes wide. He had thought that Patton would end up being one of those fiercely loyal types. Or at least would have thought it would have been harder to get him on his side. “Of course! Like you said, it’s really hard out here. With taxes going up, I think I might even lose my farm. It’s been in my family for generations, I…Well, I don’t know what I would do if I lose it.” He looked away, saddened by the thought of losing his home.  
“Patton…I promise you won’t lose your home alright?” he moved to gently take the other’s hand. “I won’t let that happen,” he made sure to speak with a tone of certainty, even though he wasn’t even all that sure that this would work. But they would try their hardest, and that is what mattered. “Right…thank you, Roman. Now! How can I help?”  
The ex-prince had to think about that for a moment. “There is one thing I know you can help me on for sure. But I don’t know if you would like it…It would require you to leave your home to travel with me, to help us find more members.” He explained the job to him, “If you don’t think that will work for you, then I can try to think of something else too!” He didn’t want Patton to think that leaving would be his only option to help the cause.  
“Maybe…I mean, I suppose I could get my cousin to take care of the place. He lives down the road too, so it’s not like I would have to worry about time…” Patton mused quietly, trying to see if he could get away for leaving. “How long would I be gone for?” he questioned, he needed to see if everything would work out. He did want to go! He really did! But he worried about his farm and all of his animals too. “I don’t know for sure, I do know that it will probably be quite some time before you are able to return.”  
“Do you think I could have some time to think about it..?” Patton asked after a moment of silence, looking up at the ex-prince. “To be perfectly honest with you? I would prefer an answer now. However, if you truly don’t know if you’ll be able to handle being away, I could wait a bit.” He offered, taking pity on him and understanding how hard it would be to just up and leave everything you’ve ever known.  
“I understand, thank you, Roman.”


	5. An Adventure

Roman ended up staying at Patton’s place for a few days after their conversation. After all, with his injuries it wasn’t like he was going to be going anywhere for awhile. While he was extremely grateful for Patton’s assistance, he wished that the other would at least let him help around the house though. It seemed every single time he had tried to stand up to help him with the chores, Patton would gently shove him back to the cot to get some rest.  
It was safe to say that he was anxious to get back on the road. He never did like sitting in one place for too long. When the day came that Patton had finally agreed that he was fit to travel (so long as he took it easy) he wasted no time in standing up. “Finally! It’s been far too long since I’ve been able to stretch out my legs!” He grinned happily, stretching out a bit. “Yeah! I guess it is pretty great that you can finally move around again!” Patton hummed, adjusting his glasses. “Indeed it is!” Roman nodded, standing up straight and getting serious. “Now, Patton, I’m afraid I can’t give you anymore time to think about your answer. Are you going to be coming with me?”   
Patton smile did falter a bit when the other brought up how he still hadn’t made his decision. A part of him wanted to stay here at his little farm, to keep himself and his animals safe. But deep down he knew what he needed to do. He needed to go. Patton took a deep breath before nodding. “Yeah…Yeah, I’ll go.” He confirmed, a smaller smile taking the place of the larger one he had had before. “I need to, I know I’m at risk of losing my farm right now, but if the king stays in power it will all just get worse..And I can only imagine how much worse it is for people who started off worse off than I did.”  
Roman couldn’t help the excited look that came onto his face when the other agreed to come with him. “That’s wonderful! Well, the part where you agreed to come with me is, the part about losing your farm isn’t.” He said, getting a tad too excited and ending up moving too fast. “…ow.”   
Patton blinked, a worried expression quickly coming onto his features. “Be careful! I don’t want you getting any more hurt than your already are!” Patton warned, moving to place a gentle hand on the others shoulder to ensure that he stayed steady. “I know, I know. Thanks Patton.” He sighed, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to do some proper adventuring for a few more days. Maybe even longer if Patton had anything to say about it. “It’s no problem! I need to pack some stuff before we leave alright?” Roman nodded, “Of course.” He spoke as Patton grabbed his side bag and starting packing. Roman could tell he was trying to take only what was necessary. Food, drinks, a map and first aid equipment. “Patton? Aren’t you going to bring a weapon with you?”  
“Huh? Oh…Probably not. I don’t own one.” Patton shrugged, turning to face him when he was done. “Well we’re going to need to get you one then. We can get one at the next village.” Roman decided, and Patton nodded. Though the other man did seem rather wary of having a weapon of his own, which Roman simply dismissed as being scared he didn’t know how to use it. “It’ll be fine alright? I can teach you how to use it too!” He grinned, and Patton managed a smile in return. “Now! Shall we go?” Roman questioned, noticing how he seemed to be done packing. “Right, let’s g-wait! Give me a second!” Patton ran over to his desk to write a quick letter before he headed out to the stables with Roman following. 

The two grabbed their horses, ensuring that everything is ready before climbing on. Roman taking the lead as they rode off with Patton close behind. Patton only paused once to give his letter to a fellow villager, telling him to deliver the letter to his brother before quickly riding after Roman in hopes of not getting too far behind.

Their adventure had begun.


	6. The Night Begins

This was it. For the first time ever, Patton had left his quaint little farm house. And to join a rebellion no less! This was so exciting! Well, exciting and scary. He could still feel the ball of nervousness in his stomach as the town became nothing more than a small dot on the horizon. The two rode practically side by side until nightfall started to creep up on them. “Hey Roman?” The farmer asked, looking over to him. “Do you think we should stop soon?” Roman thought for a moment before he nodded, “yes, I suppose that that would be a good idea. We should set up camp before it gets too dark.” He agreed, glancing around to try to find a place for the two to rest and eventually found a nice, small clearing. “Do you think over there would be alright? It looks fine to me.” He suggested, gesturing over to it as Patton nodded. “Sure, that looks good to me too!” He smiled slightly as Roman grinned. “Alright!” So the two headed over to the spot, getting off their horses and tying their leads onto a secure tree branch. “Hey Roman? I’m going to grab some sticks for a fire!” He informed the other, who nodded, “I’ll go with you, I don’t want you going off alone.” He said certainly, and Patton shook his head. “No, I’ll be okay,” He smiled, “I don’t want you having any chances to hurt yourself again! You’re still recovering after all!” “You’re going to be doing that until my wounds are completely healed, aren’t you?” Roman raised an eyebrow. “Of course I am! As I said before, I don’t want you getting hurt anymore than you already are! So try to just set up some blankets or something alright? There should be one in my saddlebag.” Roman nodded with a sigh of defeat and moved over to Patton’s horse. “Fine, fine. Just…be careful alright? These woods can be dangerous. I don’t want you getting hurt either.” “Okay, I’ll be careful! I promise,” He reassured, watching as Roman set up the blankets before he spoke up again. “I’ll be right back!” And with that, he walked off to try to find some branches, and to be alone with his thoughts. He needed to try to just sort things out anyways. Patton hummed softly and started to pick up branches as he went along. He had known that this would be dangerous, and that he could die. But if there was one thing in this life he couldn’t stand to lose, it was his farm. It was his home. He had been born there, just like his father had and his father before him. They had all been farmers. So he had decided to fight for his home. He knew he wasn’t supposed to be a fighter, and that he definitely wasn’t that brave, but he had to try. He picked up a few more branches before he looked around. He must have traveled farther than he had thought, it would probably be safer to head back. He felt his nerves only grow as he walked back in the direction he came. He knew that it was probably ridiculous, but he felt like someone…or something, was watching him. He just thought he was being paranoid. So he just continued his humming in hopes of distracting himself and walked on. He had to be nearing the camp now! He sighed softly, glancing around and all of his senses were on edge. He tried to focus on spotting their horses, Roman’s white horse was very noticeable after all. He was sure he would find his way! Yet still his grip on the branches in his arms still tightened, holding them close to his chest like a child would hold so tightly onto a security blanket. It was then when he heard footsteps. He turned around. “W-Who’s there!?” He asked, trying his best to sound at least somewhat intimidating, even if he was absolutely terrified. It was then that he saw him. A man standing in the shadows with piercing eyes, he wouldn’t have even been able to see him if he hadn’t been looking. He was sure he saw him, yet when he blinked again, the figure was gone, it was as if he had never been there in the first place. It was safe to say that after that little encounter, he was definitely going to get out of there as fast as possible. That guy had looked dangerous! He turned on his heels and ran the rest the way back to the campgrounds and he and Roman had decided upon, dropping the sticks into a pile before he finally let himself try to relax, panting softly. He definitely was *not* a runner. “Patton? Are you alright?” Roman looked up from his work and quickly moved over, placing a gentle hand on his back. Patton managed to nod. “Y-yeah…I’m okay…I just…I got scared. I saw someone..” “You saw someone? No one’s supposed to be out here at night! At least, from my experience no one ever is…what did they look like?” Patton held up a hand, signalling for Roman to wait until he got his breath back. “I didn’t get a good look at him,” he finally spoke, “It was like he was hiding…he was really pale though. And his expression…It was like he was suspicious of me, or trying to protect something.” “Really..? Well, we better be on edge for now. I’ll start the fire and you try to relax.” Roman said softly, now on edge to try to ensure both of their safety. That was something Patton definitely wasn’t against as he moved to one of the trees, sitting down and leaning against it as Roman started the fire, and walked the perimeter of their camp before moving to go sit down next to him. “It looks like whoever you saw isn’t nearby. We’ll be okay.” He comforted, looking over to Patton with a small smile. “Alright, thanks Roman.” He shrugged, “It’s fine, now, try to get some sleep-” he was cut off when the area around them was suddenly clouded for a split second by a shadow. A shadow in the shape, of a dragon.


	7. Stranger

“Woah…” Patton murmured softly, he had never really seen a dragon before. At least, not a live one. Back at his old village, he would see the knights hauling dragon carcasses in on their wagons maybe once a year. And every single time he really couldn’t help but stop and stare. They definitely were magnificent creatures, and while a part of him rued the knights for killing such majestic beings, he knew that they were dangerous. And that they all had a habit of trying to destroy villages and cities. Sometimes even entire kingdoms! Of course, he had never really experienced that though. He had simply just heard the stories, he knew what he was taught and that was pretty much it. The farmer was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Roman call his name. “Patton?” He asked, and Patton turned to face him. “Yeah?”  
“Are you alright? The dragon didn’t scare you, did it?” Roman was concerned for his newfound friend. After all, Patton didn’t seem like the type to be able to handle much when it came to fear. “Mhmm…I’m okay. I’m not scared either. It was just…that was the first dragon I’ve ever seen alive before. I’ve really only seen them dead. It’s..It’s kind of a shame. Isn’t it? That the knights have to kill them all the time?”  
“No, it’s really not.” Patton blinked, surprised by Roman’s sudden change of attitude. “What do you mean by that?” He asked with a frown. “Do you not remember why we met? One of those beasts nearly killed me! Trust me, Patton, those…those things are nothing but menaces towards us. They hardly do any good whatsoever. There’s a reason we kill them.” Roman explained to him, a hint of anger in his tone. He clearly felt very passionately about the subject.  
Patton glanced away and nodded, “alright..” He still wanted to believe that dragon’s weren’t that bad. They couldn’t just be attacking with no reason right? Maybe they were all just hungry! Or maybe they really really wanted a hug but in the end they got too nervous and they ended up attacking people instead!…Okay so he knew that last one was unlikely but it was possible! It wasn’t like anyone else knew what the dragons’ were trying to do either!   
Roman spoke again, but this time his voice was softer. He must have thought that he had ended up hurting Patton’s feelings. “Patton, listen, I know it’s hard to comprehend how dangerous they are without actually seeing what they do. They…well, to be frank, when it comes down to it, they’re animals. They have killed our people, destroyed our crops and even killed our animals before. Isn’t it better that we kill them first before they kill us?”   
“…I guess.” Patton still wasn’t accepting Roman’s answer, that much was clear. He was a pacifist at heart, he always had been. You shouldn’t kill without reason. Whether that reason be food or self defense there still needed to be a reason. And when they were killing the dragon’s first, weren’t the dragon’s just defending themselves? He shook his head to try to clear his thoughts. He needed to try to stay calm and focus. “So…where are we going next?”  
“I really don’t know…but back in the capitol there was rumors that there was a very powerful mage at the end of the forest. My father…the king, organized a search party to try to find him for witchcraft, but they could never find him. Maybe we can try to find him..? Surely he would want to be on our side!” He offered up the plan, running a hand through his hair. “I think that might work..” Patton agreed with a small nod. “But for now, we should probably try to get some sleep okay?”

Roman nodded, grabbing the blanket and pulling it over the both of them. “Very well, you get some rest Patton. I think I may stay awake for a bit. Just in case that man you saw is still around.” There was no response, he frowned and looked over, only to see that Patton was already curled up into his side his head resting on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around him, and kept his other hand on his sword for the time being. This was fairly comfortable. The most that he had ever been in quite a while, so much so that despite his original goal to stay awake to keep watch for a while, he soon found himself drifting off to sleep.


	8. To The Mage

Roman ended up waking up earlier than Patton, but he made no move to get up. He didn’t want to risk waking the farmer up, he figured that he had been through a somewhat stressful day yesterday so he thought it would be good to give him just a bit longer. He ended up looking up to the brightening sky, just watching as all of the colors started to overtake the darkness.

Most would never expect it, but he loved moments like this. He loved the occasional silence before anyone was awake, it gave him time to be able to think and plan out his day. He let out a content sigh, ever so slightly tightening his grip around the sleeping form next to him before he closed his eyes, taking just a few moments to listen to the birds, the wind in the trees, and everything else. It was wonderful, it truly was. And for the first time since he left the castle to start this journey, he felt safe.

He didn’t know how long they were there for, and to be honest he really didn’t care. He spent this time simply enjoying himself until he felt Patton shift beside him. He glanced over to him. “Patton?” He asked, watching as the others blue eyes blinked open, letting out a quiet yawn and ending up nuzzling his shoulder. “Morning Roman,” he greeted quietly, once he was sure he was awake, Roman moved to take his arm away,only to be met by a quiet protest by Patton. He definitely wasn’t a morning person, was he? “Pat, I need to go get breakfast ready.”

“Breakfast can waitttt! It’s too cold to movee.” He whined, at this point Patton was pretty much latched onto him, and even Roman could tell there was no way out of it. “Fine, fine. I guess we can wait a bit longer okay? But then we’ll have to hurry if we want to make it out of the forest by nightfall.” He really hated having to be the more responsible one, but it wasn’t like he had a choice now. When you’re starting a revolution you have to at least try to act responsibly. Doing otherwise would get you killed. He tried to push such thoughts away for now. Everything was still in the planning and building stages, there was no need to start thinking such glum thoughts yet. Besides, he needed to at least attempt to keep a good mood going, that way things would stay lively and they would both be in high spirits for their journey.

Roman ended up giving Patton a solid five more minutes before he roused him from his tired state, moving to get some fruit from their bags for breakfast while Patton put out what was left of the fire. The farmer yawned quietly, retreating back over to Roman once his task was gone. “So we’re going to go find that mage today, right?” he questioned as the other man handed him an apple and nodded. “We’re going to try to find him. The edge of the forest shouldn’t be too far off from here. Perhaps maybe an hours ride. Probably less though, we covered quite a bit of ground since yesterday.”

“Right! I’ve heard people saying that there’s just a bit further out from the mages home, Maybe we can stop there after we talk to them!” He agreed with a small nod, taking a bite from the sweet fruit. “That sounds good, we can probably get you a weapon why we’re there too, I think we have enough food to last us for the next few villages so I don’t think we’ll need to restock that.”

“…Yeah, okay,” Patton agreed, still clearly reluctant to get a weapon, but unwilling to tell his friend the truth. Luckily for him, Roman seemed too caught up in his own thoughts to actually hear the clear upset tone in his voice. Patton watched as Roman started to pack up some of their supplies before he moved to ensure that both of their horses were taken care of. “Ready to go?” He asked, looking over as he finished up. “Of course!” Roman grinned, untying his horse as Patton did the same before he hopped on, waiting a bit for Patton to follow his lead before the two set off again. “So, we should probably come up with a strategy to get out of their in case they’re hostile and try to attack us.” Roman commented offhandedly, which only caused the nervous knot in Patton’s stomach to get larger. “Alright.. Lets just go, I want to see if we can meet them before sundown!” He hummed, being careful to get a happy tone in his voice near the end as the two rode further and further into the dark woods, having no idea what dangers they may encounter.


	9. Getting Somewhere

Their ride went fairly peacefully, the two exchanging playful banter and occasionally pausing to look around themselves. It seemed perfect really, Roman would have thought that they would have come face to face with more dangers by now. “So what do you think this mage will be like, Patton?”

Patton thought for a moment, then shrugged and looked over to him, stretching out slightly in the cool spring air as he spoke. “I bet they’re gonna be nice! Maybe not at first but they’ll get used to us eventually and reveal their personality! We can’t expect everyone to be friendly right off the bat after all!”

Roman nodded, “That is true, and we have to be prepared in case they ended up aligning themselves on the side of my father. In that case..well, I hate to say it but if that comes to be the case we may have to kill them before they kill us. It’s unlikely though…My father has never taken kindly to anyone who practices in the magical arts…he didn’t take kindly to almost anything, really.He’s always been…for lack of a better word, a total prick.”

Patton blinked in surprise at the others choice of wording. “Well even if he is bad, you still shouldn’t swear when your talking about him. Or really, at all. That stuff is just way too rude.” He chastised him, he wanted crossing his arms over his chest as they rode on. “…That is true, I suppose. If you don’t want me swearing, I can try not to do it for you, my dear Patton!”

Patton grinned at the ex-princes normal flamboyant attitude. “Awe~ Thanks Roman! Some people just chose to ignore me and move on. So it means a lot that you’d do that!” He hummed happily, “Well, Patton, it appears you may have been hanging around the wrong people! If some of your friends are always disregarding your discomfort and all that, I would say you would need to try to get more positive people in your life! And get rid of those that always refuse to at least try to stop for you!”

“…I guess that’s right,” Patton agreed with a slight nod, peering up ahead. “Oh hey! There’s a clearing up ahead! I think that might be it!” He looked over to Roman, an excited glint in his eyes, “You’re correct Patton! It does look like it would be it! After all, that would be the perfect place for a mage to have their hideout!” He agreed, “Though…A mountain or something would probably be better. Maybe a deep underground area? Or maybe in the deadlands?” He was getting off track. He shook his head to clear it. “That’s besides the point, let’s go!”  
Roman sped his horse up to a nice trot, Patton following his lead as they rode on, soon reaching the clearing and hopping off their horses. “I..don’t see anything here,” Roman frowned, glancing around the scenery and not seeing anything that would stand out. “Yeah..Oh wait! I think I see something!” Patton said, moving towards what seemed to be nothing more but a hill in the grass. That is, until you got closer. When they looked carefully at the hill, they could see that in reality, it was a cottage. “Woah…that is certainly well hidden…but it doesn’t look like any place a mage would hideout Patton,” Roman sighed, “Maybe we have the wrong place. The mage may not even be alive anymo-”

He was cut off by a voice coming from behind them. “What are you two doing here?” It was a firm voice, yet it still sounded..somewhat monotone. Roman turned around to apologize before pausing. Before them was a man dressed in a more formal, dark blue and black attire with dark blue eyes that held something that Roman couldn’t quite place. Wisdom and a sense of knowing perhaps? Maybe. But one thing was for sure. This man certainly wasn’t normal. “My name is Roman, and this is my partner, Patton…are you the mage that is supposed to live around here?”

Patton couldn’t help but peer up hopefully at the stranger, watching as his face changed to one of concern. “Depends who would want to know. And don’t think I don’t recognize you, Prince Roman.” The strangers voice was cold, he was on edge. Who wouldn’t be when the son of a king was talking to you? “Well…yes. But I have renounced my title of prince. I’ve seen the ways my father treats the people of his kingdom, and I realized that he must be dethroned before he does anymore damage to this land and its people.”

The stranger listened to the words that Roman had to say, his eyes narrowed a bit. “I don’t believe you…Is what he says true?” He asked, glancing over to Patton who nodded “Yes it is! He wouldn’t lie about something like that, if anyone heard him say that and reported it to the king, he would be killed!”

“…Very well. Yes. I am the mage that you are seeking. I suppose you’re here to ask for my assistance in your quest to overthrow the king?” He asked, raising an eyebrow as he walked over to the little cottage, leaning against it. “Yes that’s exactly it! Wait-why did you believe him and not me?” Roman asked, a slight offended tone coming into his voice. “Because. If you think I’m going to trust a son of the king automatically, then you must think that I’m daft.” Roman couldn’t help the offended sound that he made. “…Whatever. Why are you here anyways? This doesn’t seem like a very mage-like place to live. Shouldn’t it be like, a tower or something?”  
“It’s bigger on the inside. Now I suggest you both head inside, thanks to you deciding to run off the king has sent guards into the forest.” Logan stated, opening the door so the two could go inside. Roman definitely didn’t like this guy. But whatever, at least they were getting somewhere.


	10. The Cottage

Patton let out an awed gasp as they walked inside the cottage. It was in fact larger on the inside. They had stepped into a large hall with bookcases lining the walls, going so far up that they couldn’t even see where they ended, let alone see the ceiling. “Woah! This is amazing!” Patton commented, grinning widely as he looked around.

Roman’s reaction was fairly similar to Patton’s if he was being honest. He was absolutely awestruck at the sight. “It most certainly is! This is practically unreal, ….I don’t know your name.” He blinked, suddenly realizing that he had never asked the mage his name, which he had always considered to be rather rude.

Logan sighed, he had noticed how Roman had completely forgotten to ask about his name. Though, they had obviously had other things on their minds after all. He supposed he could let it slide this time. “My name is Logan. And it really isn’t all that impressive. There were once many other magic users who had bigger homes.”

“There were?” Roman asked, a clear interested tone in his voice. “…Wait, what did you mean by were? Did something happen?” Logan almost rolled his eyes at the words the Ex-Prince spoke. Did he really have no idea on what happened? …Actually, he may not. In order to force his ideals on his child the king may have tried to keep him ignorant about all the problems he was causing, so for the time being, Logan decided on not telling him off and instead trying to educate him.

“Yes Roman. Something happened,” He nodded, “Its was about four years ago. Your father had recently discovered magic users were trying to help the people, and its needless to say that he didn’t like that, but he let it slide for the time being. He thought maybe he could get a user to help him control his kingdoms people. So he sent his guards out to capture a mage, they did manage to get one, however, when the king ordered them to follow through with helping him follow through with one of his plans, the mage refused. They were sent to the dungeon and tortured. While they were down there, the king spread rumors that all magic users were in line with the devil, and as such they should all be killed and started a hunt. Every single magic user that was caught was put to death…for all I know I’m the only one left. All the others are either dead or in hiding.”

“I…Oh my god, Logan. I never knew..” Roman’s voice was quiet, shock overcoming his features. “I know you didn’t. Your father most likely decided it was important to keep you ignorant in order to try to control you and make you turn out just like him. Luckily you didn’t… I doubt this kingdom could survive another person like him.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Actually, I highly doubt the kingdom will be able to survive him.”

“That’s why we’re fighting him now! We need to take him down before he does anything else to harm the people!” Roman said, a determined tone in his voice. “Exactly! We can do this!’ Patton spoke up after being quieted by Roman’s story. “Well..with your help we could do this…would you be willing to?”

“Of course I am,” Logan agreed, moving to start walking down the hall, “Come with me, I believe that you…we will need a proper map so we can figure out where we need to go next.” He motioned for them to follow, hearing their footsteps start up when they walked, trying to catch up so they could walk beside him. He didn’t bother with talking anymore until they reached the end of the hall, “I need you to promise me you won’t touch anything in here unless I say its alright.”

“Understood!” Roman agreed quickly, though he was mildly offended, thinking that he had thought they would break something, but he didn’t want to risk anything so he bit back his complaints for the time being. “I promise!” It was easy to get Patton to agree,of course he was. Though Roman was fairly certain that Patton would never break anything on purpose. He was certain that he didn’t have a bad bone in his body.

“Good,” was Logan’s only response, pushing the door open to reveal a large room, lined with elegant furniture. And in the center there was only a large book sitting on a stand. The mage walked over to the stand. “Let’s get to work.” Roman and Patton followed him in, Roman standing a bit closer to the book than Patton, being more confident in what was going on, while Patton was actually a bit nervous. Logan moved to open the book, before stepping back, the others following his lead, watching as Logan extended his arm, murmuring something under his breath. Roman was actually getting a bit anxious himself, the tension was thick in the room.

The room went black.


	11. Finding A Base

The moment the lights went out, Roman found himself stepping closer to Patton and putting his hand on his sword. His first thought was that he would need to protect them both just in case things went south. But when the candles flickered to life yet again, the ex-princes hand fell off the handle of his blade. The book had a large, dimly glowing, ball hovering just above its pages. “Woah…That’s so great!” Patton was the first to speak, his eyes wide and an awed expression taking its rightful place on his features.  
“Patton is right,” Roman agreed, eyeing the glowing orb with a curious yet still skeptical look. “It is rather amazing..but uh, what is it?” He looked over to the mage, who simply sighed and turned to face them. “A map. I believe I already told you what we were going to do. And while I do understand why you seem to be so tempted to grab your blade`” His eyes glanced down to Roman’s hand, that even if he had moved away from holding onto it, was still rather close to grabbing it. “Then you could wait outside my home. I don’t want anything in here getting broken thanks to some prince’s paranoia.”  
“Okay, first of all, I had no plans on trying to destroy anything in here,” Roman began, a bit of an offended tone in his voice, “And second of all, and I’m sure you remember this, I renounced my title and my father! I am not a prince!” He stated, Patton moving over to put a gentle hand on his arm. “Roman calm down okay? Just take a few deep breaths and everything will be fine,”   
To tell the truth, Patton was a bit on edge, just like Roman. He knew they would need Logan on their side if they ever had a chance to be able to defeat the king, so he didn’t want Roman getting him angry…besides that, if he had to admit it, he was afraid of magic. Not too afraid of course! It just, well, it made him uneasy. But hey, if anyone else grew up in an area where magic was said to be a bad thing, then they would be like this too, if not worse! He watched as Roman followed his instructions, taking a few slow breaths before speaking. “..You’re right Patton, my apologies for that little…explosion, Logan.”  
“Apology accepted. Make sure it doesn’t happen again.” He responded curtly, not bothering to acknowledge it more than that as he stepped forward to the globe,looking it over. “Now its time we get to work. If your trying to start a rebellion than your going to need a base before you recruit too many more people. And it’s obvious that I can’t let everyone that you recruit stay here. It would be a mess. So we should start trying to find a land close enough to the kingdom while being outside of where the guards normally go.”   
“Thats correct,” Roman spoke, trying his best to hold his tongue on that mess comment for the time being. “So do you know a place like that? Maybe we could try to keep it somewhat close to a village in order to ensure that we could get supplies too,” Logan simply nodded, turning the globe map a bit more before pointing at a group of mountains. “Here would probably be best. The Tarakona mountains. It’s fairly dangerous in terms of creatures, hell, I’ve heard that there’s been some dragon sightings near there as well. But if you want no guards and you want it near a village, than this is your best bet.”  
“Then the Tarakona mountains it is!” Roman cheered, Patton frowning in the background. “Are we sure about this though? I mean, when it comes to dragons of guards, I would rather deal with guards.” He spoke, a cautious tone in his voice as Roman rolled his eyes. “We can only have one or the other, and you forget, if the guards manage to find only one of us it could be all over. I would rather simply deal with the dragons, believe me, there are less dragons than there are guards, and they aren’t as intelligent as humans. They would be the easiest to deal with.”

“..Right.”


	12. Trust

“Well, I believe that settles it then.” Logan said, snapping his fingers. The second he did that the book slammed closed, the room returning to normal. Logan moved to turn to face them once everything was situated. “Are you both equipped well enough to be able to handle Tarakona?” Roman confirmed the others question with a small nod. “I believe we have almost everything, yes. We have food, maps, and a medical kit. We should probably stock up on more now that I think about it though, and I still need to get Patton over there a weapon. I’m sure that we can get him one at the village though! After all, there is one nearby here, isn’t there?”  
“Yes. there is. The people are fairly hostile though. And given how long it looks like you both have been traveling, it’s likely that they already know how you’ve betrayed the king. You would have to be careful...I can probably go and try to get everything you’ll need. But if it proves to be necessary, I suppose Patton could simply take one of the weapons that I have around here.” Logan spoke. “Do you think that would be alright Patton?”  
Patton blinked as he was pulled out of his thoughts, hearing how Logan was speaking to him. He just thought he would be able to tune out a bit since it seemed the others were okay talking without him. A part of him was thinking he should head back to his village. He wasn’t a fighter, and it seemed that Roman and Logan were pretty set on listening to each other instead of him. He knew that way of thinking wasn’t fair to them, after all, they knew more than he did So they should be the ones making all the decisions! So if they wanted him to have a weapon, he should have a weapon.  
“Hm? Oh yeah! If you guys think I should have a weapon, then I probably should have a weapon!” He agreed quickly, fixing his shirt before looking back over to the others. Logan frowned slightly at his answer, but didn’t try to argue with him. “Well, I suppose you should get some rest for the time being. I suspect that the two of you haven't been able to relax for quite a long time. You may both stay here for the time being. Just don’t come out of your room past midnight. I tend to let the Pipspells run around then, that way they get can get their exercise.”  
“Pipspells…? What's that?” Patton asked curiously, tilting his head to the side slightly. Logan sighed, “Little creatures that tend to help me out. Though, recently they seem to be more of a nuisance than anything else. They may get into your rooms, but you can just ignore them. And Roman? I would suggest hiding your sword. That way they can’t try to take it..They tend to love to steal anything that has even the tiniest bit of shine or sparkle to it.”   
“Good to know,” Roman nodded, he definitely had questions, after all, his father had made him study all of the creatures in the realm ( Albeit it was so he would know how to kill them) And he had never heard of those things. “Roman, your room is up the stairs, first door on the right. You should be able to find it on your own, I would like to speak with Patton for a few moments.” He told him evenly, watching as Roman hesitated, then nodded. “Alright...I’ll see you later Patton.” He didn’t want to leave Patton alone with him. And for good reason! They had just met the guy! Plus...well, he had been raised not to trust magic users. He knew he needed to try to forget what he had been taught in order to totally trust Logan, and that would take a while. He sighed softly, starting out of the room and over to the stairs that Logan had mentioned. He didn’t know how long it would take for him to be able to trust him, but he hoped it wasn’t going to be that long. After all, how could he be the leader of the rebellion if he couldn’t trust one of the most powerful people in it?


	13. Is It Time To Go Home?

“What do you want to talk about, Logan?” Patton asked him, rather concerned since he had been asked to stay behind. Though he supposed he was relieved as well. After all, he didn’t want to have to be alone right now. He knew that if he did end up alone, he would start thinking about leaving their quest again, and if he did that, well, he wasn’t so sure that he would be able to resist the urge to go home.   
“I wanted to talk to you about how you were acting,” Logan explained, “You seemed rather nervous back when I mentioned trying to get you a weapon,” That was definitely something Patton couldn’t deny. After all, he had no idea how to use a weapon, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He just didn’t want to hurt anyone. “Yeah..” The farmer admitted softly with a small nod, watching as the mage walked over to him.   
“I understand how you feel, however, you must know that this is entirely necessary. After all, there will be people out there who will try to kill you, you don’t have the magic or strength that Romand and I have, and we will not be able to protect you all the time, you need to be able to at least know how to defend yourself, and in this case, that means you need a weapon,” Logan expressed his thoughts to Patton with a few little hand gestures, watching as the room started to clean itself up, a broom moving by itself to start to clean the dusty floors.  
Now Patton knew that Logan’s words were not meant to hurt him, they were merely stating facts but..that doesn’t mean they didn’t. They did sting, and Patton did his best to hide that, keeping a small smile plastered onto his features. “I know..I just don’t want to hurt anyone, but..I get that it's necessary. I mean, there are a lot of dangerous things out there!” he laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck as Logan nodded. “Yes, that's good that you understand. Now, you should go and get some rest. Your room is just across from Romans, so just go upstairs and to the left alright?” Logan pointed him to where he needed to go.   
“Alright.. Night, Logan,” He waved slightly before he started to make his way out of the room. He disappeared out the doors to the room, and walked up the stone stairs, doing his best to not step on the tiny person who ran across the last step, apologizing to the little male before continuing on to his room, stepping inside and closing the door behind him before collapsing onto the soft bed.   
It did feel great to be able to sleep on a bed again, it really did! But, well, the problem was that he couldn’t exactly sleep. Instead he just spent the first few hours of the night tossing and turning. He just couldn’t stop thinking about what Logan had said earlier. He wasn’t as strong or as smart as the rest of them, that was true, so what was the point to him staying here? He did care deeply for Roman, after all, he was his best friend! (It wasn’t like he could say that to Roman’s face, after all, the two hadn’t hung out for that long yet!) But he doubted he would be able to help them on this journey, not to mention how scared he was of actually going on to the next leg of it! It was around three in the morning when Patton had finally realized, him being here must not matter much. Yes, Roman had invited him along, and yes, he did plan on supporting the rebellion as much as he could but he knew that he would probably just end up getting them hurt instead of helping them.  
He rolled out of the soft bed at five, a heavy feeling in his chest as he gathered his things together into his bag before he moved to quietly walk out of the room and down the stairs, pausing once he got to the front door and taking a deep breath. “...It's better this way,” He murmured softly to himself before he moved out the door and into the cool night air, not noticing the little eyes watching him as he left to go back to his humble little home.


	14. Patton's Gone.

The others didn’t notice Patton’s absence until the next day. Roman had ended up going to go and check on him, wanting to ensure that the other was doing alright...well, and to question what Logan had said to him the day before. He hummed softly as he slipped out of bed, moving to go and try to check up on him, opening the door to see that his friend was gone. The bed was made, his bags were gone, it was as if Patton had never even been there in the first place. The only sign of Patton having ever been there at all was a small shiny string that must have fallen from his bag, which apparently had been claimed by on of those Pipspell things that Logan had told them about, as it was just sitting there on the floor, holding it in its tiny hands and looking it over.  
Now at first he was incredibly worried, thinking that the mage had done something to his poor friend. But that was when he realized something, he could simply ask the Pipspell what happened! Well, that was assuming that it spoke English, he moved to sit down next to it on the floor. “Excuse me? Can you speak?” He asked it, careful to keep his voice somewhat soft as it looked up to him, opening its mouth as if to speak before starting to speak...in a language that was seemingly just growls. “Oh..”   
Roman was visibly upset at that, though only a moment later he heard a tiny laughter, looking over to see the little one tucking the sting into its bag with a grin on its features. “Oh, I’m just fucking with you!” It spoke, it seemed to be taking care to speak loudly so the other would hear him. Roman huffed, slightly upset at the others joke, though he was relieved that he could indeed talk. “You’re looking for your friend, right?” At that Roman perked up, watching as it climbed up his pant leg to sit cross legged on his knee. “Yes! Have you seen him? Did that Logan guy do something to him?”  
“Woah there, slow down buddy,” The Pipspell spoke, “Yes, I’ve seen him, and are you kidding me? Logan may look like a cold guy but he would never hurt anyone! Hell, one time he almost stepped on me and he apologized like, four times, course he doesn’t admit that to anyone. Your friend left around three or so in the morning, he was really upset, mumbled some stuff about how he wanted to go home and how he didn’t really fit in here with the rest of you guys,” As the Pipspell explained everything, Roman felt his heart sink. “...He left?”  
“Well, yeah,” It nodded, fiddling with its little bag that was by its side.“But at least you know where he’s going, so it's not all bad! You can still find him,” Somehow Roman didn’t find the words very comforting. By now the guards would have been out hunting those who started the rebellion, not to mention the amount of beasts that would probably go after him! Just by being alone, Patton was in a lot of danger.   
“R-Right...I need to go,” He moved to put it on the down before he moved to get to his feet, “Thanks little guy!” He looked down to him before he darted out of the room. Wondering what the hell Logan had said to the farmer that got him to leave, and if the other had done it on purpose. He ran down the stairs and to the others work room before he paused just outside the door, hearing sounds from the other side. He took a deep breath to try to ensure he would be able to talk at least somewhat rationally before he opened the door, stalking into the room.   
“Logan, we need to talk.”


	15. Travels Gone Wrong

Patton ended up walking back down that trail. He knew that it would take longer, but it didn’t seem like Logan actually had a horse, so he figured that it had been for the best. After all, they were the powerful ones, they were the ones that truly seemed to matter when it came to their quest, so they were the ones that should have the horses and most of the supplies too. Patton had only left with the bare minimum of what he needed, his bag packed with a small amount of medical supplies, food and a canteen of water. He figured that that would be all that he would need since he could always fill up the canteen whenever he saw a river, after all, he and Roman had seen multiple water sources on the way up here, and it wasn’t like it had been months since they had left his little village.

Patton sighed softly, rubbing at his eyes, as if to try to rub away his exhaustion, doing his best to continue his journey, walking through the dark, dense forest. It really was scary out here when you were all alone…after all, who knew what was out here. There could be bears, or lions, or god forbid, spiders! The young farmer did his best to push those thoughts away, scaring himself would do him no good. He needed to focus on getting far enough away so he could get a nap in. His tired eyes looked up to the top of the tree canopy above him, seeing the stars through the leaves. When he did that he almost found himself crying all over again. God, he would miss Roman so much. Hell, he would even miss Logan, and they had just met! Somehow, he just knew that the mage was a good man, even if he had solidified Patton’s doubts about himself, he hadn’t known what he had done, so surely he couldn’t have been that bad. 

He felt his eyes sting with unshed tears, doing his best to blink them away, though he was certain that a few little tears still managed to escape. He practically having to rip his gaze from the stars so he could watch the road ahead of him, walking down the overgrown forest paths, and only stopping when he saw the sun’s gentle rays creeping over the horizon. He moved to go and find a safe place to rest, going off the path just a bit before finding a large tree that was just barely hidden from the path before he moved to lay down beneath it, holding his back to his chest as he let his tired eyes close, only realizing how exhausted he was when he laid down, falling asleep moments later. 

Patton’s rest was surprisingly dreamless, he had thought that he may have nightmares due to everything that had happened, but instead, he slept well. He supposed that that was due to the sweet smell of flowers, or perhaps due to the cool grass that he was laying on. Either way, it was most certainly was a good thing, as the moment his eyes blinked open and he sat up, his worst nightmare begun.


	16. The Argument.

“Logan!” The angry shout echoed across the halls of the mages home, causing Logan to whip around from his work and to have to catch a vial that almost broke on the floor. “Roman!” He narrowed his eyes. “You should never charge into someone’s study like that! You could have killed us! Do you even know what this is!?” The other man was lecturing him, very much like how you would a child. Logan gestured to the bottle in his hand as he continued to lecture him, though it was clear that Roman wasn’t listening. 

Roman rolled his eyes as the other droned on. “Enough Logan! I don’t give a shit!” He snapped, sure, maybe not all of his anger was about this situation, but he was still subconsciously choosing to focus all of his emotions into it. “What did you say to Patton last night!?” He questioned, glaring daggers at the mage, who was silenced by the way the prince was acting. “What in the world are you talking about?” Roman rolled his eyes.“Don’t play dumb! Patton is missing and it has to be your fault!” He insisted, glare still present in his eyes. “You were the last person to speak to him!” 

“..What do you mean he’s missing?” Logan seemed to finally understand what the other was saying after a moment, though he was completely unfazed by his anger. “All I told him was that he would need to learn a weapon! I mean, it was rather obvious. He didn’t have your skill and years of training in fighting and he didn’t have my skill in magic, so he would at least need to learn how to protect himself!” Logan didn’t even seem to recognize how that could have bothered Patton, let alone that it could have fueled his insecurities. He did, however, flinch when Roman reached out and grabbed his wrist.

“You’re coming with me to find him!” Roman stated decisively as he dragged Logan along behind him, not caring if it bothered him. “You probably seriously hurt his feelings or something like that! He’s a puffball, Logan! Theres no way he can survive out there on a normal day! And now there are guards out there searching for us! We need to find him and bring him back here.” He told him, he did doubt Patton’s abilities too, but at least he never told him that! That way he wouldn’t hurt the poor guy! 

He ended up dragging Logan out of his home and back onto the trails. “Fine fine!” Logan rolled his eyes. “Lets just find him and get back here then. He couldn’t have gotten far so I doubt we need the horses anyways.” He moved to yank his hand away from Roman’s grip, walking beside him and doing his best to ignore his presence as they started to search around for Roman’s lost friend. 

“Ugh. He couldn’t have gotten far, you said, we wouldn’t need the horses, you said.” Roman complained as the two continued their journey. The sun was high into the sky, and they still couldn’t find Patton anywhere. “Stop your whining will you? We haven’t seen any signs of there being any guards around, so you should count yourself lucky.” Logan told him, never once taking his eyes off of the path before them, which earned him a sharp glare from Roman. He almost rolled his eyes at the others spoiled antics. “If you’re going to keep complaining we may as well stop to rest for a little while.” He moved to step over to a tree before pausing. “Logan?” Roman questioned, seemingly genuine about his concern as to why he stopped. “Whats going on?” Logan moved to turn around, holding a piece of torn, grey fabric in his hands. 

 

A piece of Patton’s cloak.


	17. Meeting The Rider

Patton stiffened up, hearing the thundering of hooves pounding towards him, he wanted to convince himself that it was just a stampede, but, he was fairly certain that it was the guards. And he was positive that they were tracking Roman. Yes, he was scared...no, scared wasn’t the word for it. The poor man was downright terrified! However he knew he needed to protect the others, even if he wasn't the strongest or the smartest, he could still try. He moved to head back into the bushes to hide, grabbing a rock before waiting until the guards were passing.   
He watched for nothing more than a split second before he threw the rock, nailing one right in the chest and throwing him off balance, it ended up knocking the other man off of his horse. The farmer didn’t waste any time, the very moment he knew the guard was down, he started running. He knew he couldn’t run for long, as admittedly, he wasn’t in the best of shape, but he knew what he had to do, even if he was caught, he was positive that he wouldn’t get as bad as a punishment as Roman or Logan would have, so it was worth it.  
He kept reminding himself of that over and over as he ran, darting between trees and bushes, doing his best to make sure that he would be able to keep going, pressing on even when his lungs started to hurt. After all, he was sure he could hear them closing in. They had horses, and he didn’t. He knew he was probably lost by now, and that there was a chance he would never be able to find his way back to the main trail, let alone home, but it would be worth it to finally be able to be useful and help his friends.   
His legs faltered. He didn’t think he could run any further, yet he still tried to press himself to go farther, eyesight blurry and breathing ragged, he could practically hear the horses right on his tail now...there was no way he was going to make it out of this forest, at least, not uncaptured anyways. Well, that was if he was lucky. If he had really pissed them off they probably wouldn’t even let him out alive. He knew how corrupted the guards of this kingdom truly were, he had seen their violence with his own two eyes. He had seen them kill an old man just for disrespecting them! An old man! He guessed that he was lucky enough just to be able to do something for them before he died. But maybe, just maybe, that used up all of his luck.  
And that statement certainly seemed to be true, as in that moment, Patton ended up tripping over a large rock, crying out in pain as he hit the ground, looking down to see that his ankle was already starting to get swollen, and the skin was already going purple. He cursed quietly, but none the less he still tried to climb back onto his feet,wanting to force himself to continue on, wanting to do his best and to go as fast as possible. But the second he set his foot back on the ground, he had ended up falling over again, hissing out in pain,   
This was it, this was where he was going to die, wasn’t it? Patton’s head sagged in defeat, taking shaky deep breaths to try to accept his fate when he heard a heavy thump, head snapping up to look over to see what it was. And the second he saw it, his eyes went wide, both in horror and awe. In front of him, was a large, sleek dragon with black and fushia scales, though somehow that wasn’t the most surprising thing.

Someone was riding it.


	18. Meeting His Rescuer

Patton couldn’t help but stare up at the mystery man, both curiosity and fear showing in his eyes. It was as if time seemed to slow down, that for a split second, he wasn’t afraid of the guards behind him, no, instead he was afraid of the dragon rider in front of him. Though, both the dragon and its rider seemed to not be interested in harming him. Instead they ended up quickly surveying the area before reaching out to him. “Come with me! I’ll get you out of here!”   
Now, Patton knew he shouldn’t trust a random stranger, but he also knew if he stayed, he would be a dead man. In the end, he decided to go with him, reaching out and grabbing his hand as he was pulled up onto the dragons back. “Hold on to me okay? It’ll be fine,” Though the others voice had his own touch of panic to it, somehow Patton found comfort in the gravelly tone, nodding before moving to hang on tightly to his waist, though he made sure to try to not to hurt him.   
His stomach lurched as the man gave a sharp whistle, the mighty beast jumping up into the air as it took off, quickly starting to fly up into the clear blue sky and away from the knights that had been chasing him. He hung on just a bit tighter as the dragon soared higher, accidentally looking down to see how the forest looked so tiny below him. “Fuck, you don’t need to hang on that tight!” The man swore, Patton immediately relaxing his arms once the dragon leveled out, he certainly didn’t want to hurt the person who saved him after all! “Right, sorry,” he said quickly, “Thank you for saving me back there...I was sure I wouldn’t make it out of there!”   
The rider nodded slightly. “You would have. And it's fine, those assholes can’t do jack shit up here….what did you do to have them chasing you like that? I haven’t seen anyone that pissed off since, well, the last time they encountered me,” The man chuckled softly, seemingly paying attention to everything at once. “Don’t get too comfortable back there either, okay? It won’t be too much longer until we’re back at my home, its not too far from here,”   
“Right, I won’t!” Patton certainly didn’t want to upset the rider who had rescued him. He nodded simply, pausing for a moment to think over what he had to say. He certainly didn’t want to reveal too much in care this guy wasn’t as friendly as he seemed...but he did seem fine! And he acted and spoke as if he was an outlaw too! Gods, he never thought he would refer to himself as an outlaw, then again, he never thought he would be riding a dragon or going on an adventure either! “...I’m a rebel,” He spoke simply, unable to help that tiny pinch of pride showing through his tone before he remembered that by a technical standard, he wasn’t one anymore. “Well...At least I used to be. I ended up running away from camp,” He sighed softly, almost looking down but catching himself before he did it, not wanting to scare himself.  
The dragon rider listened intently, nodding slightly. “I heard about that….what's your name anyways? If I’m helping you I’m pretty sure I should know your name. Otherwise I’ll have to find something else to call you.” he spoke up, glancing over his shoulder to the smaller man riding behind him. It was a bit hard to believe that this weird little puffball was part of the rebellion. A rebellion against the mistreatment of bunnies maybe, but against the king himself? Well, that was just strange. But…well, who knows? He couldn’t judge someone on appearance or how they acted when they first met, there was always more to a person than just the surface. It was the same with dragons. He was pulled from his thoughts when the young farmer answered him. “My names Patton!” He grinned happily, the sun glinting off of his round glasses. “Whats your name?” There was a curious tone to his voice, now, normally, the dragon rider was cautious about giving out his name. But, there was something that told him it was safe to tell him.  
“My name is Virgil.”


End file.
